A French intelligence officer held hostage in Somalia since 2009 was killed
along with at least one soldier during a botched rescue attempt by French
troops, it emerged today.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Defence Minister, said that the mission had
been planned carefully but had been extremely dangerous.

He said the hostage, code-named Denis Allex, and a French soldier were killed,
as were 17 Islamists. Another French soldier is listed as missing after the
raid on Friday, which had involved commandos in three helicopters.

Mr Le Drian said the operation in Somalia was unrelated to the French
offensive in